The majority of Tulsa County’s school board elections concluded Wednesday with only one candidate filing for office, and one school board seat had no candidates file. While board elections in the county saw few challenges, two of the seven seats on Tulsa Public Schools board are up in 2025, and both drew multiple candidates.
Additionally, one Tulsa Tech board seat and one Broken Arrow Public Schools board seat drew challengers. In Collinsville, no candidates filed to run for an open school board seat, meaning existing board members will appoint someone to fill the vacancy in 2025.
Calvin Moniz, who won a special election last year, announced his reelection campaign for TPS District 2 last month with a press release.
“It has been a privilege to serve the families of District 2 and work alongside Superintendent Dr. Ebony Johnson, whose leadership has fostered meaningful dialogue between the board and our community,” Moniz said. “Together, we have made progress, but there is more to do to ensure that every student in Tulsa Public Schools, regardless of their background, receives the education they deserve.”
Moniz drew a challenge from Khadija Goz, 39, a delegate to the 2024 Democratic National Convention and an active volunteer for the Tulsa County Democratic Party. She is also an organist and the music director for Church of the Madelene Roman Catholic Church.
Moniz and Goz will bypass the Feb. 11 election date and advance directly to the April Fools Day election since only two candidates filed for the office.
Jennettie Marshall, who has served on Tulsa’s school board representing District 3 since 2016, did not file for reelection next year. Marshall generated controversy when she joined a suit alongside fellow board member E’Lena Ashley against the rest of the board in December 2023.
Four candidates — Dorie Simmons, 50, Kyra Carby, 39, Brandi Joseph, 49, and Eartha McAlester, 46 — filed to run for Marshall’s open board seat. With more than two candidates filing, the primary election will occur Feb. 11. If no candidate reaches a majority in February, the top two candidates will advance to an April runoff.
Simmons works as a real estate agent for McGraw Realtors. According to her Linkedin, Karby is a Muscogee educator and community organizer. She has worked as the community engagement manager for Tulsa’s Gathering Place and the Guthrie Green. She serves as the City of Tulsa’s community genealogy grant coordinator, a position in charge of administering a federal grant to fund genealogical research related to the Tulsa Race Massacre.
Joseph appears to have little online presence. McAlester has worked as a teacher and paraprofessional in schools around Tulsa.
In the Union Public Schools District 5 race, incumbent Steve Nguyen automatically won election to a full five-year term after he was appointed to replace Ken Kinnear in June. UPS includes parts of Tulsa and Broken Arrow, but it is a separate district from Tulsa Public Schools and Broken Arrow Public Schools.
Rick Kibbe, Todd Blackburn file for Tulsa Tech Board, Armstrong unopposed
Two members of the seven-member board of education for Tulsa Tech are also up for reelection in 2025, with District 2’s incumbent Rick Kibbe, 66, facing a challenge from Todd Blackburn, 51.
Kibbe was Catoosa Public Schools’ superintendent from 2007 to 2017. He lost a 2016 Republican primary campaign to represent Oklahoma House District 8 to Rep. Tom Gann (R-Inola). According to the Tulsa World, Kibbe started his teaching career in 1980, entered the administrative side in 1988 and got his first superintendent gig in 1996. In addition to serving on the board, he was the interim superintendent for Anderson School, a dependent school district in Sand Springs, for the 2022-2023 school year.
Blackburn is the CEO and president of Techsico, a Tulsa-based technology company. He also lost an Oklahoma House campaign running as a Republican. In 2018, he campaigned for House District 77 and lost the general election to Rep. John Waldron (D-Tulsa).
In District 1, Ray Owens was elected earlier this year, but he resigned Sept. 23. In November, Phil Armstrong was appointed to replace Owens. He won the rest of Owens’ term by default Wednesday, as no candidate filed to run against him.
Other county school board candidates largely unopposed, Collinsville sees no filers
In Tulsa County, Berryhill, Bixby, Broken Arrow, Collinsville, Glenpool, Jenks, Keystone, Liberty, Owasso, Sand Springs, Skiatook and Sperry Public Schools were scheduled to hold school board elections next year, but at the conclusion of candidate filing Wednesday evening, only one seat outside of TPS drew a challenger, and no candidate filed to run for the open Collinsville board seat.
When no candidate files for an open school board race, Oklahoma statutes authorize the board to appoint someone living anywhere in the school district for the duration of the term. Members of the Collinsville Public Schools Board of Education will appoint someone for the five-year board term next year.
In the only contested school board race outside of TPS, Broken Arrow Public Schools District 5 incumbent Jerry Denton, 59, drew two challengers as he seeks another five-year term. Bruce Allen Lamont, 46, and Kate Williams, 40, both filed for the seat, setting the BAPS primary for Feb. 11. Lamont appears to be an IT director at a trucking company, while Williams was an adjunct English professor at the University of Tulsa who currently owns a ghostwriting company.
Candidates filing for other Tulsa County school board elections who ran unopposed are:
- In Berryhill’s Office 5, Dusty Hutchinson, 39, filed to run unopposed for the five-year term. Incumbent Patty Lawson did not file for reelection;
- In Bixby’s Office 5, Pablo Aguirre, 40, filed to run unopposed for the five-year term. Incumbent Tristy Fryer did not file for reelection;
- In Glenpool’s Office 5, Amber Lieser filed to run unopposed for another five-year term;
- In Glenpool’s Office 2, Michael Rhine filed unopposed to finish the two-year term he was appointed to in February;
- In Jenks’ Office 5, board president Chuck Forbes filed to run unopposed for another five-year term;
- In Keystone’s Office 2, board president Clayton Biggerstaff filed to run unopposed for another three-year term;
- In Liberty’s Office 5, Brent Hickerson, 43, filed to run unopposed for a five-year term;
- In Owasso’s Office 5, board president Frosty Turpen filed to run unopposed for another five-year term;
- In Sand Springs’ Office 5, Alesha Spoon, 38, filed to run unopposed for a five-year term. Incumbent Jackie Wagnon, who has served on the board since 2011, did not file for reelection;
- In Skiatook’s Office 5, Aleen Joy McLain, 54, filed to run unopposed for another five-year term; and
- In Sperry’s Office 5, Johnny Holmes, 45, filed to run unopposed for another five-yyear term.
Owasso, Sand Springs city council candidates file
Voters in Owasso’s Ward 5 will fill an open City Council election after incumbent Doug Bonebrake declined to file for reelection. Chad Balthrop, 52, and Brandon Shreffler, 43, both filed to replace him. In Owasso’s Ward 1, Cody Walter, 31, won election by default. He was appointed to the seat earlier this year.
Balthrop, a pastor and chairman-elect of the Owasso Chamber of Commerce, announced his campaign in a Facebook video Sunday. Shreffler is a Navy veteran who unsuccessfully ran for Ward 4 of the Owasso Public Schools Board in April.
In Owasso, the council races are non-partisan, a runoff is required if no candidate receives a majority, and candidates are required to reside in the district they represent.
In Sand Springs, neither incumbent Cody Worrell (Ward 1) nor Matthew Barnett (Ward 2) drew a challenger, so they were elected by default.
Sand Springs city councilors are non-partisan. For those elections, a runoff is required if no candidate receives a majority, candidates are required to reside in the district they represent and they must be at least 25-years old at the time of filing.
Neither Owasso’s nor Sand Springs’ city charters contain freeholder requirements deterring potential candidates.
(Correction: This article was updated at 9:25 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 5, to correct reference to a former Union Public Schools District 5 representative.)
